


Untouchable

by Sofipitch



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 18:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7651372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sofipitch/pseuds/Sofipitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many firsts: first meeting, first fusion, but most importantly a first moment of honesty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untouchable

_Untouchable like_

_A distant diamond sky/_

_I'm reaching out_

_And I just_

_Can't tell you why/_

_I'm caught up in you_

_I'm caught up in you_

_-“Untouchable”_ Taylor Swift

                  Amethyst easily remembers the first time she laid eyes on Pearl. It had been Rose Quartz who had first encountered her, left for dead, a proverbial wild child, and it had been Garnet who carried her home. In height and strength they were similar and Amethyst based her schema of what a gem should be on them.

                  But Pearl was different. She was still tall, but not sturdy, thin and breakable looking with skin so light and reflective it could have glowed in the dark. To this day it’s still fun for Amethyst to point a flashlight at her and watch her reflect like the moon.

                  Having lived in a desert trench surrounded by rocks for all of her life, the gems were easily the most beautiful things Amethyst had ever seen.

…

                  Initially Pearl simply appeared to be an orderly and scientific person. She enjoyed things that had order and precision. She never had fun in battles, she aimed to kill---poof. She seemed so neat and orderly and boring.

                  Amethyst found her initial curiosity about the reed-like gem waning. That is, until the first sword fell down into her room. It was a beautiful sword, with a golden hilt and a gem (Earth non-sentient gems) embossed scabbard.

                  Although she put together who it belonged to (not her), Amethyst kept the weapon. It was too cool to let go of.

                  A few days later Pearl wandered into her room asking if she had seen a sword of the same description Amethyst had discovered.

                  Amethyst handed it back, wishing for an explanation as to why it was Pearl had such a sword seeing as it was of human design.

                  Amethyst ended up not asking and Pearl jumped back up into her room, sword on her shoulder.

                  It would be the start of a long trend in her relationship with Pearl, hearing things from Rose and Garnet or picking up little nuances about Pearl herself, but never making the move to get to know her, ask herself. Because the fact of the matter it that Amethyst could not—cannot—stand the way Pearl’s glass eyes look at her before brushing her off, deciding she doesn’t need to explain herself to Amethyst, to anyone.

                  Pearl was hidden so deeply inside herself as though she was a fortress under siege.

…

                  The sad thing about Pearl’s attitude is that she is incredibly expressive and easy to read, she just refuses to address herself.

                  It didn’t take long to realize Pearl loves Rose.

                  It just took a little longer to realize that they were supposed to be together. Like Ruby and Sapphire. But they weren’t.

                  Their dynamic was strange and Amethyst could never fully comprehend it. It did not appear that Rose acknowledged Pearl’s feelings for her as being as passionate as they were. Rose enjoyed Pearl’s attention and loved her, just not with the strength Pearl desired.

                  Pearl allowed it. Maybe as long as she had Rose she couldn’t see the difference.

                  After watching this interaction for years on end Amethyst became disgusted with Pearl’s love for Rose. She was only hurting herself, and for what?

                  Amethyst couldn’t decide who was to blame, but she tended to resent Pearl. Pearl had a tendency to try to talk and cover things up. At least Rose seemed oblivious.

…

                  Above it all though, above the distance and secrecy, Pearl played with Amethyst. The two were inseparable. Although she would never admit it, Pearl was her favorite person. Because despite all the screaming and worrying, Pearl always stood by her.

                  Although it was difficult to fuse for the first time, Pearl didn’t give up on Amethyst till they did. And it was wonderful.

                  They were always in synch, always together, that is until they weren’t.

                  Pearl panicked when Steven was born. She was upset about losing Rose and apprehensive as to the weakness of human children (Their skulls aren’t even finished!!). Pearl’s world revolved around Steven, and Amethyst understood that, she loved Steven too.

                  It’s just… why did she have to hate her now.

                  Suddenly all the little quirky things Amethyst did which were worrisome before were tiresome now. It appeared Amethyst couldn’t be herself around Pearl, she had to stop being.

                  Amethyst hated that, She wanted her friend back. But rather than tell Pearl that, that the loss of her friendship made her feel inferior, made the shadows of the Kindergarten creep back into the edges of her mind, Amethyst kept to herself. If Pearl could do it so could she.

                  But she couldn’t could she? Amethyst exploded one day and it ended in a hug that was a little tighter than Pearl had ever given and them all holding hands.

                  And just like that things started to look up. All it took was a little honesty. They might even be better than they were before, Amethyst sure thought so the night they fused to move the drill but didn’t unfuse till morning.

                  There had been other signs of their improved relationship too. The first time Pearl ever spoke to Amethyst about herself in a real manner was when Greg, Steven, and Garnet left on their little mini-vacation. Amethyst always wanted Pearl to talk to her about herself, about real things like the war and Rose. All the things Amethyst stayed awake at night wondering if she talked to Garnet about them instead. (It’s not like Garnet shared more than Pearl but she didn’t talk as much as Pearl does.)

                  It was painful to see Pearl upset over Sardonyx. She had been wrong but Amethyst still stood by her because that’s what best friends do.

                  Maybe they could be considered best friends.

                  Amethyst wonders if it is that that would make her happy.

…

                  After the initial adrenaline spike of Peridot’s betrayal to Homeworld passed, Pearl broke down.

                  Garnet and Peridot were working on the drill. Steven was tucked into his makeshift bed on the truck in the barn.

                  The moment Pearl began to break Amethyst led her away from the barn, next to a tree close by, so as to not wake up Steven and cause him to panic as well.

                  For a long time Pearl simply sobbed and hyperventilated as Amethyst watched. Slowly Amethyst started whispering “breathe” every time Pearl began gasping for air. She slowly began to calm down.

                  “Do you want to talk it out?”

                  Pearl covered her face to rub her eyes. “What is there to say? You know about the war.”

                  “Um yeah newsflash, you and Garnet don’t really ever talk about this stuff.” Amethyst looked down at the ground, her eyes shielded by her hair. “Was it really that bad?”

                  Her original choice of words would have been, “What happened to you? Garnet’s not like this.” But that wouldn’t have been fair; Pearl would think Amethyst thought she was weaker. It wasn’t the case.

                  Amethyst looked up at Pearl. There was a look in Pearl’s eye Amethyst swore or at least tried to convince herself she had never seen.

                  She began to tell her story very slowly and there were lots of hesitations whenever Pearl began to discuss herself and not Rose. Around the third hesitation there was also a gasp accompanied by shining eyes. Amethyst mustered up some courage to lay her hand on Pearl’s. Pearl simply looked down at their hands, not saying a word.

                  Finally she continued her story.

                  At one point Pearl began to lean on Amethyst. Wordlessly, still listening to Pearl, Amethyst pulled Pearl into her lap. Pearl laid her head on Amethyst’s shoulder and kept speaking, running her fingers through the bottom of Amethyst’s hair, weeding out knots.

                  By sunrise she was asleep.

                  Pearl didn’t dream, which was a bit disappointing to Amethyst. She wanted some kind of distraction from this new feeling in her gut (or was it an old one?). Between that and Pearl’s story it was a lot to process, a lot of permanent changes between the two.

                  Amethyst considered kissing Pearl’s gem, it was right there against her jaw, but ultimately decided not to. Just like learning about her, she wanted Pearl to do it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Guys I had a panic attack thinking about having to tell my boss I quit my job. My guess is telling YD off would be like the same.


End file.
